Narcian's Return
by RuffianWriter
Summary: Narcian wakes up to find himself alone in an open field. All he can remember is passing out in battle, and he has no idea where he is now. Alone and weaponless, Narcian must find a way to survive, or he will die. (Some OC characters included)
1. Chapter 1

Narcian Returns

_He didn't know what had happened. One minute he was fighting the Lycian Alliance, and the next minute he had gone out cold. He thought nothing could have gone wrong, but that was proven false as the Alliance was retaking the capital with ease. The last thing he remembered was the look of surprise on his enemy's face as he fell over clutching his head and passing out._

Narcian woke up with a start. He couldn't figure out where he was. He looked around and found he was in a field. Looking at himself he saw his armor was surprisingly in decent shape.

"Strange," he said, "I could've sworn my armor had taken a heavy beating in that battle. Oh well, I guess my armor was too impenetrable to be even dented." Narcian grinned at the thought. "I guess I should check out this place, though it's not much for looks."

So Narcian got up, and went to check out his surroundings. Just as he said, there was nothing much of interest to see. It was just a field of grass. A large field of grass. After hours of looking around Narcian was losing his patience. There was nothing around at all but grass.

"I can't take it anymore!" he yelled. "There is nothing to be found!"

Yelling made his throat hurt, which made him even angrier. Then he decided to gather his mind and think.

"Alright. I need to think. I have no sense of direction, there is nothing useful to be found," he checked his sheathe for his Runesword only to realize he had no Runesword and he had no sheath "and I have no weapon to protect myself with." But instead of despair, a new feeling of smugness mixed with cunning had filled him. "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make do with the only thing I have: my wits and my intelligence. And judging on how good they are, my survival will be easy."

So Narcian did what he thought was smart and headed in the first direction he faced. After he had walked for hours, he had found a village.

"Excellent!" He said. "Perhaps I can get all the supplies I need to survive around these parts. He ran to the village, despite being worn out from all that walking. He then stopped and realized that he had no money to buy anything. So he settled for walking around the town and seeing all there was to see so he could get some idea of where he was going. He was just walking by what he guessed was a tavern when he heard the shouts of men coming from inside. He stopped to listen and heard steel making contact with steel. Two men were having a duel. Narcian ducked as he saw something fly out the window, and land behind him with a clang. He turned to see what it was and smiled.

"Oh dear, some poor whelp has lost their sword," he said in a mocking sympathetic voice. He picked up the sword and let it glint in the sunlight. "I suppose they won't need this anymore."

He then went to the armory shop and sold his armor. "A man as strong as me does not need so much unnecessary armor," he had said to the shopkeeper. Then with his money he bought a sheathe for his newly acquired sword, as well as a cloak to make up for his armor. Then he bought himself some provisions to take along as well.

"I should probably figure out where I am first before I journey any further." So Narcian went up to a passerby and said to him, "Excuse me, but I am a traveller and I don't know where I am. Can you tell me where I am and what country this is?

"The town has no name, but you are in Valm. The great Walhart rules this continent." The villager told Narcian that if he got in trouble with the law he would most likely be executed on the spot.

"Alright," Narcian replied, "so can you tell me where the harbor is?"

The villager pointed him in the direction to the harbor, so Narcian headed off in that direction, wondering what else he would find and discover.


	2. Chapter 2

Narcian had been travelling for up to two days now, only stopping to take a 5-minute break every now and then. He was currently wandering in a forest, with no idea where he started or where the end was.

"_Of course. That villager failed to tell me there would be a forest that's who knows how big to travel through_," Narcian thought to himself. Besides being dark and gloomy, the forest had a chilling fog that made things hard to see from six feet. He wrapped himself deeper into his cloak, which he was thankful that he traded his armor for it.

He had thought he heard something. At first he thought it was coming from behind him, but as he listened he realized something was following him…

"…In the trees. I certainly would not fancy some creature to jump down and attack me," Narcian said. He grew suspicious and pulled out his sword, just to be ready. He walked five steps forward, then looked up and listened carefully. He could hear something moving above him, but couldn't see with the fog. When he thought he was safe he kept on going.

He was casually strolling when an arrow had shot from above and grazed the side of his arm. Another arrow was flying, but Narcian was ready. He took his sword and swung at the incoming arrow. With a successful hit the arrow snapped in two and fell apart. As a third shot was fired, Narcian paid close attention to where the shot came from. Evading the third arrow, he aimed his sword carefully and threw it towards his hidden target. He heard his sword pierce something and a second after that he heard someone grunt in pain.

With the sound of rustling leaves came down a body of an archer. Narcian looked at the corpse and was pleased to see that he hit his foe with great accuracy; his sword was sticking straight into the heart of the archer. He pulled out his sword from the corpse, and then searched the corpse for anything that might be useful. Besides the bow and a quiver of arrows, Narcian had found some gold and three knives, two of which he crafted into hidden arm daggers should he have to face an opponent in hand-to-hand combat.

As he walked on he had realized something he should have thought to consider when he was searching the corpse

"That archer was most likely a brigand," he said to himself, "and brigands are always in packs, whether they travel alone or together."

He had almost begun to think the other brigands would hunt him down when he found what he was looking for: the Valmese harbor. The first thing Narcian did was visit to the shopkeeper. Besides restocking, he decided to re-forge his current sword. His sword was made with a slightly longer blade, with a new and fancy hilt. The blade was now a nice shade of black, and the hilt now had an orange gem on its center. After repairing and re-forging his sword, he had decided to name his weapon. "A good weapon wielded by a great swordsman should obviously have an excellent name," as he said. He had thought about it for hours, then settled on giving it the name "Rivalseeker," which he had named after his lucky shot on an unseen foe. He later bought some light armor to wear under his cloak.

* * *

When he was checking how he looked in the mirror, Narcian could hardly recognize himself. His normally nice, combed golden hair was a mess, his eyes looked tired from travelling so much, he seemed to have lost his straight posture and exchanged it for a slouching one, and he was starting to grow some stubble.

Narcian grinned at this new look. "I look like I'm a ruffian myself," he said. He pulled up his hood and unsheathed his sword. Now he looked more shadowy and sneaky than he ever was before. He grinned. "I think I'm starting to like this style better than my original one."

Going back outside, he wondered where he could find a boat. He looked around until he had found a small ship that looked like it was small enough for one man to control it without a crew. As he jumped on, however, someone had spotted him.

"HEY!" yelled the voice. "What do you think you're doing?"

Narcian turned around and smiled. "Why, I'm just stealing one of your ships. What are you going to do, cry about it? NYA-HA-HA-HA-HAA!" Narcian roared with laughter

"You pay for insulting a Valmese commander, you insect!"

"Oh, and who are you I may ask?"

"I am Valmese Commander Dalton. And you are stealing one of my vanguard's ships! Surrender, and I may spare you."

Narcian gave with a mocking smile. "Alright, but you've got to catch me first!"

With that, Narcian cut the last rope that kept the boat in place, and the current took it away.

"MEN!" Dalton roared, "GET TO THE BOATS! I WANT THIS BUG KILLED ON THE SPOT! NOW!"

Dalton's men were rushing to the ships. They cut the ropes holding the ships and started sailing. Narcian was already getting farther away, but that would not stop Dalton. He was determined to kill the man who had made a fool of him.


	3. Chapter 3

Narcian had been sailing for three days and three nights. On those nights he looked behind him wondering if the Valmese ships would even catch up to him. He had found some wine bottles in the small storage compartment, and would help himself to a drink or two. He never drank excess when he drank though. "A drunken soldier in the heat of battle is as good as dead," he had said to himself.

Meanwhile the Valmese soldiers were getting impatient. They now only pursued Narcian halfheartedly, wishing they could go back to Valm. Some had already attempted to jump off the ship and swim, but they couldn't fight the current and eventually drowned. The drowning of their comrades pushed the idea of swimming out of the minds of the soldiers.

Dalton was the only one who didn't give up the chase. He wanted to make Narcian pay for openly mocking him and stealing a Valmese ship with such ease. He had already commanded his troops that should they reach Narcian he was the one who got to kill him. Naturally his troops didn't complain, but wondered why they had brought a whole fleet just to pursuit one man.

"_Wait till I get my hands on him. I can't wait to thrust my sword into that insect! He will pay for insulting me, a Valmese commander_," He thought. He was thinking on how to end Narcian the perfect way when a wyvern rider flew up to his ship. The rider dismounted and approached Dalton.

"Commander Dalton," the rider said. " "Commander Ignatius has ordered me to give you his message."

Dalton turned around. "Speak soldier."

"Ignatius said that you must know by now that your ship is closest to land."

"Huh? No, I must not have noticed. Well go on."

"He also says that your ship is given the task to land there and claim it for Valm.

At this Dalton became enraged. "I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE UP MY CHASE RIGHT NOW JUST TO CLAIM SOME NEW LAND AS OURS!"

The rider began to smile. "Yes, Ignatius thought you might say that. So he told me to remind you that your target is heading in that direction.

At this Dalton's rage subsided, and an evil smile grew in its place. "Alright. Tell Ignatius that I will go. And tell him I intend to not only claim that land, but that insect's life as well as anyone who stands in my way!"

The rider mounted his wyvern and flew back to his ship. Dalton was now in a great mood. He could see the shore as they approached.

"Sir," a soldier shouted to him. "I can see a ship port from here.

"Then we will burn everything there and slaughter its civilians!" Dalton had always loathed peasants, but he loathed foreign peasants even more. "Let nothing stand in our way! When we burn it down to its foundation, I will have that man's head on a platter to celebrate a great day for Valm!"

* * *

Narcian was getting bored and tired. He had almost fallen asleep when his boat stopped. He got up from his relaxing place and looked. He had sailed into a small port. Pulling up his hood and his hand on his sword, he slowly stepped off the boat and walked into the harbor. He went looking around, trying to find someone who could guide him. He kept searching till he found an old crab fisherman sitting on one of the docks.

"Excuse me," Narcian asked, "but do you know where I am right now? I'm a traveller with no idea where I am."

"Hush, you little whippersnapper! You'll scare the crabs."

Narcian glared at the old man, the stamped his foot on the dock.

"Alright, alright! Quiet down! You're in Port Ferox right now young man. No please go before you-"

At that moment the crab fisherman pulled up his net and a massive crab was caught in it.

"Hey, what a catch I've just got!" The crab fisherman exclaimed. "I guess making a little noise can't hurt, ain't that right my boy?"

Narcian grinned. "Yes. It's what makes the quiet, sneaky crabs that are nearby jump in fright and get tangled in the net."

"Thanks for the tip! I hope you find what your looking for, good traveller," the old crab fisherman called out to him.

Narcian waved at him, and then continued to go through town. He confronted a sign that pointed out different destinations. "Arena Ferox, The Longfort, The Northroad. Ahh, what to choose, what to choose," Narcian thought aloud. He didn't know any on these places, much less what they where. As he was making up his mind, he heard someone scream. He went to the source and found it was coming from the harbor. He ran to that destination, only to find half the buildings destroyed and in flames. Civilians were running frantically from soldiers.

"Valmese soldiers," Narcian said to himself. "So they caught up with me after all. He ran farther into the harbor and sure enough found a Valmese ship anchored down. A familiar voice called out from somewhere.

"Civilians! My name is Dalton, Commander of the Valmese vanguard! I will burn down everything in my path, and slaughter the whole lot of you! His eyes then found Narcian. "And as for you, I will not stop until I have splattered you all over the ruins of this town!"


	4. Chapter 4

Narcian ran up the boarding plank to the ship. Pulling out his sword, he faced off against Dalton. The two glared at each other. Soldiers were about to advance no Narcian, but Dalton ordered them to back off and ravage the village: Narcian was his. Dalton then turned and spoke to Narcian.

"So. Are you ready to pay for your mistakes, bug?"

Narcian just grinned. "Ha. I believe you're the one who made the mistake of ravaging a port that isn't yours, so I believe I shall punish you for your dirty deeds."

"I'm sorry, but what was your name? I don't believe you told me your name during introductions."

"I am Narcian, former General of Bern, now a lowly traveller who hates Valm soldiers at the moment."

"What did you just say? Former general?" Dalton was starting to have second thoughts about fighting this man. He may have been a commander, but if this man were a former general, it would make sense that he would be more experienced in combat and leadership than he was.

"Well then. Are you ready to die? You chased me all this way," Narcian said. "I guess you aren't the good commander your troops think you are."

At this Dalton became infuriated. He drew his own sword and charged at Narcian, hoping to pierce him and make him regret what he just said. Narcian, however, was expecting this and dodged to the right of Dalton. Dalton's sword got stuck in one of the poles supporting the mast and he couldn't get it unstuck. Narcian took a swing at Dalton and gave him a huge gash on the side. Dalton yelled in pain, then released grip of his sword and tried to grab a hold of Narcian. Narcian thrust his sword forward and it went straight through Dalton's gut. Dalton screamed as Narcian yanked it out and then fell over writhing in pain. As Dalton was down, Narcian could hear sounds of battle on the shore.

"Hmm. Perhaps the army around these parts has finally come to fend off these Valmese troublemakers," Narcian said. As he watched he saw more soldiers advancing, but not Valmese soldiers. They were cutting their way to the Valmese ship. Through the sound of war Narcian heard a male voice call out:

"Chrom! These soldiers will not cease fighting until we can reach the commander and kill him. If we can do that, these soldiers may cease fighting when they see their commander dead!"

Narcian thought about what the man had said, then looked down at Dalton. He was still on the floor, now moaning in pain, and his blood was spilled out all around where he was. Narcian brought up his sword and readied it.

"Any last words?"

Dalton looked up, his face now pale.

"It's a shame. A man as smart as you could've served well on our side."

Narcian grinned smugly. "Yes, that's what the last commander I met said to me before I ended his life as well." And with that he struck his sword into Dalton's chest. Dalton had no strength to cry in pain. He collapsed as Narcian pulled out his sword. Narcian then grabbed the corpse and lifted it up high in the air, saying:

"Valmese soldiers! I have killed your commander. You must cease all fighting or you will all burn with the buildings you have burned today!"

Immediately all Valmese soldiers dropped their weapons and put their hands up. Narcian smiled at his victory.

As he started to go off the ship a javelin was flying through the air and pierced his left arm. Narcian looked up and found a Pegasus Knight flying above. He retaliated by throwing his sword at the knight. Instead of a straight shot, the sword spun like a boomerang and flew into the Pegasus Knight, severing her torso from her legs. The sword then flew back to Narcian. Seeming to know what he was doing, he reached out his hand and caught it by the hilt. He was stunned by what just happened. He threw the sword, the sword hit its target, and the sword came back to him. It felt as if he had been doing it for a while when this was his first time doing it. He was still thinking about what just happened when someone spoke from behind him.

"Now that is a cool sword, as well as a cool sword throw!"

Narcian turned around and saw a man behind. The man had lord's garments and blue hair. Narcian had never seen anyone with such abnormal hair color in his life.

"Beg pardon, but who are you?"

The man smiled, "I'm Chrom. Exalt of Ylisse and Captain of the Shepherds." Chrom stuck out his hand.

"I'm Narcian. Former General of Bern, now a traveller with no title," Narcian said as he shook Chrom's offered hand.

"You said you were a former general? I had no idea," Chrom said in surprise.

"Yeah, I remember waking up in a field of grass with no idea how I got there."

"Huh. That's funny. We have a tactician that woke up in a field not remembering anything either."

"Oh," Narcian said. "Now isn't that just intriguing?"

Chrom's eyes lit up. "Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you come with us? We could use your skill and talent on the battlefield, and you could stay with us at the garrison and live there with us.

Narcian reacted before he even knew what he was saying. "Sure. I guess I could come along with you and your crew."

Chrom gave Narcian a friendly smile. "Alright Narcian. Then let's head off with the others before we fall behind."

So Narcian and Chrom caught up with the others and were making their way back to the Shepherd's Garrison, with Narcian wondering what situations he would get himself into alongside his new allies. If it meant slaying more Valmese soldiers, he would be glad to swing his sword into more of them. "_But I'll bet these Shepherds aren't the killing kind of crew_," Narcian thought to himself. He would just have to find that out tomorrow morning.


	5. Chapter 5

"_Huh. I thought this was going to end badly, but this ended up going pretty good. Maybe I've found where I belong after all. Everyone seems so nice to me. Maybe I should become nicer. Oh, what am I saying? If I became soft how would I possibly kill like I do now? Actually, if I become more of a kind, cool guy, maybe I could get popular with the ladies. Oh yes, I like the sound of that. Combine that with my incredible good looks and I'll sweep them off their feet_."

Narcian had spent a lot of time thinking about his new home. It was certainly far better than he suspected, and the fellow soldiers seemed nice to him even though he was new. In fact they treated him as if he had been a comrade for years. As a once cold and ambitious General of Bern, Narcian knew not of friendship or kindness. He had only servants and soldiers, not friends. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted friends. Not just buddies, but real friends.

"Arrrrgh! The very thought is painful! I have no friends! Why?"

"It's alright Narcian. I started out with no friends as well, but I eventually found many friends here."

Narcian turned around to face the Shepherds' tactician.

"Hello Narcian. I'm Carlos."

As Narcian and Carlos shook hands, Narcian had examined his new acquaintance. Carlos had long, black hair as well as handsome, brown eyes. He usually wore his black tactician robes, but he wore a light grey t-shirt with dark grey shorts.

"_Wow. This one has all the right looks and proportions, just like me. If I had to judge, I would say this man is the most handsome of all of us here_." Narcian thought to himself.

Carlos looked around, then back at Narcian. "Say, do you want to take a stroll with me? I'll show you around the garrison."

"Uh sure," was Narcian's reply.

As they walked around, Narcian made mental notes to where everything was so he could remember the location of everything without a guide. Carlos introduced Narcian to Gaius and Henry, who grew to like Narcian right away. Henry liked Narcian for his bloodthirsty personality in battle, and Gaius liked Narcian for his cunning and stealth skills. In return, Narcian liked Henry for his bloodthirsty personality in battle, and he liked Gaius for his nicknames for everyone and his liking of sweets. The two decided to come along with Narcian and Carlos, so the four of them walked around some more and then decided to go to the mess hall to eat with the others.

"Nya ha! I would've never thought that there was someone who could be as possibly as bloodthirsty as me! I think I'm about to explode with joy!" Henry said.

"Don't blow up now, or you won't be able to eat with the rest of us," Carlos said in a joking manner.

They waited for everyone to arrive in the mess hall, then Chrom arrived and counted to see if all the Shepherds were here.

"…Gaius, Henry, Myself, Ricken, Donnel, Carlos, Narcian…"

When he had confirmed that everyone was there, Chrom announced that everyone could now eat. Soon the mess hall was filled with Shepherds dining and chatting with one another. Since he hardly had anything to eat the past few days, Narcian helped himself to a lot of food. He looked around the mess hall. He saw Chrom debating war tactics with Carlos, Gaius gambling with others for more sweets, Fredrick standing outside keeping watch, and the other Shepherds talking to each other and having a good time. Narcian decided to go to bed since it was getting late. As he went to his tent he looked at the night sky. The stars were perfect for drawing constellations, so he sat down and started making out constellations.

"That one looks like a spoon. Hmm, that one looks like that tattoo Chrom has on his shoulder, and that one looks like his sword. Oh, and that one looks like a massive, scary dragon. If you connect the stars just right, you can see its six wings, its long neck, and even special details like the eyes and the fangs that are on the head." Narcian pulled out his sword and brought it up into the moonlight. Lining up the stars, he found a constellation of his sword within them. "Strange. That pattern of stars was exactly lined up like that, but I didn't see it. Oh well. Now I see it." Narcian decided that it was time to sleep and to stop staring at the sky. So he got up and went for his tent. He crawled into his bed and stared at the ceiling of the tent.

"Well, time to sleep. Tomorrow we get up and leave for Valm. I can't wait to drive my sword into all those Valmese soldiers."

With that, Narcian rolled over and fell to sleep.

The next morning Narcian woke up on the ground. "I must've been tossing and turning so much last night," he had said. He got up, combed his hair, put on his cloak, equipped his weapons, and headed out. He found himself to be the only one that was awake. Brimming with energy, he went to train and hone his skills. He practiced for hours until he wore himself out. As he was going to the site, he suddenly heard someone scream. He rushed to the garrison to find out what was going on. When he got there he saw what was happening.

Carlos and Gaius were facing off with a figure cloaked in black and sword drawn. To the right he saw a healer mending the wounds of someone. A closer look revealed it was Chrom.

The cloaked figure advanced on Carlos and Gaius. Both tried to pierce the figure, but it jumped over them and tripped them both with a swift strike to their legs. The figure then readied his sword to pierce Carlos.

Narcian ran towards the figure, sword already drawn.

"Hang on Carlos, I'm coming!" Narcian shouted. He leaped at the enemy and stopped the attack that would've ended Carlos just in time. He sent the figure flying a few feet through the air, then the figure landed on the ground with a thud.

"I am Narcian, Former General of Bern, now one of the Shepherds. Who are you?"

The figure got up and looked straight into Narcian's face. Narcian was surprised to see his own face looking back at him.


	6. Chapter 6

"What? Who are you? Why do you look so much like me?" Narcian was bewildered. This man had his exact looks, outfit and cloak, and even his smug grin. The doppelganger of Narcian readied his sword, then spoke to Narcian. When he spoke, however, he spoke with a hoarse, menacing voice.

"_Narcian. Let's play. I want to see if you're as strong as you claim to be_."

Narcian readied his own sword. "If you want to play, then what are we waiting for? Let's play!"

The doppelganger Narcian made the first move. He dashed at Narcian with blinding speed, and Narcian had barely managed to block the attack. Narcian took a swing at his foe, but his doppelganger was too fast. He flipped backwards to put distance between him and Narcian, and then brought up his sword into the air. Mysterious runes began to glow on the sword.

"Narcian, look out!" Carlos yelled to Narcian. "There's a sigil underneath you!"

Narcian looked down and jumped to the right. The sigil shone brightly before releasing an energy beam that shot upwards. A second too late, and he would have been possibly disintegrated. Narcian glared at his doppelganger. "What is that? Glowing sigils of doom?" Narcian then grinned. "Alright then. Two can play at that game!"

"_Ah. I knew you would want to play with me. You don't seem half bad._" The doppelganger Narcian's eyes glowed red. "_But unfortunately for you, only I may live. And I will live forever!_"

He raised his sword again. Another sigil appeared. Narcian evaded to the left, avoiding a pillar of fire that almost consumed him. The next sigil tried to freeze him in an icy prison, while the next one almost electrocuted him. He tried throwing his sword, but his doppelganger was too fast. He would flip, spin, glide; doing whatever it took to avoid a hit from the flying blade. Narcian's blade was rendered useless. Smiling with satisfaction, he jumped down and pointed the end of his sword to the ground. Narcian felt a stinging sensation as some sort of magic instantly bound him. Glowing seals formed around his wrists and ankles, and seemed to magnetize to a much larger sigil. He was trapped. The doppelganger Narcian laughed a bone-chilling laugh. "_Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! How do you like my Binding Sigil? Now all you can do is simply hang there as I run you through!_" Narcian struggled with his magical bonds. "_Oh. I'm going to enjoy sapping the life and soul out of you!_" The doppelganger approached Narcian, stroking his sword gently. Narcian struggled all the harder, but the bonds would not break. His doppelganger was now standing in front of him, sword inches away from his gut. Narcian stopped struggling. "_What's wrong? Have you given up?_" Narcian just smiled. "Why don't we find out?" His doppelganger thrust his sword into Narcian. Narcian screamed in pain as the blade went deeper into his gut. His blood was getting absorbed into the blade, and Narcian was starting to turn pale from so much blood loss. He looked into his twin's face. With an up close look he realized that the facial features on his evil twin were actually waxy and slightly blurry. But as more blood was being drained from him, the facial features became clearer. Starting to feel faint, he looked at his sword. Although feet away, he tried as desperately as he could to reach for it. To his amazement, his sword came to his hand, and broke his right hand seal. Bringing his sword up, he brought it down into the surprised face of his doppelganger. He could feel the sword come out of him. The last thing he remembered seeing was his evil twin clutching his face, screaming in agony, before he fell to the ground and passed out.

* * *

Narcian opened his eyes. He was not on the ground anymore. He was instead at what he assumed was the medical center. Looking at himself, he saw his wounds were bandaged up. He looked to his left and saw his sword, washed of blood and well polished. He also saw a second sword, also gleaming from being well polished. This one had a ribbon tied on it. Looking to his right he saw a glass of water and a note. He leaned closer to get a look at it. It said:

"Narcian,

I hope you are doing all right. You need to keep drinking water. The nurses say that you lost lots of water from bleeding so much. We'll see so soon. We are at a meeting right now discussing what happened today and our trip to Valm. Keep resting.

-Chrom

Narcian thought about it, then went to sleep. When he woke up, he grabbed the glass of water and drank it in one swig. He tried to get up, but his chest hurt when he tried to rise, so he lay back down. He decided to try to remember what had happened to him that ended him up where he was now.

"I was fighting some stranger that looked like me," he said to himself, "he fought like me and planned like me. Heck, he even spoke to me the way I would speak to an opponent." Something clicked in Narcian's mind. "Wait. I _used_ to speak like that, but that changed when I met Dalton. And his weapon wasn't even similar to mine." Narcian then realized something. "That weapon he wielded…it was similar to…my Runesword. How he got ahold of something like that I have no idea. But I am sure that it was extremely similar to my Runesword."

He kept thinking about this until someone came through the door. He looked up and saw what he assumed was a Pegasus Knight. But something was different about this one. Unlike other Pegasus Knights, whose armor is a dark, faded red, her armor was shiny metallic. He also noticed that she wore no helmet like the other knights, and instead had wing ornaments in her long, red hair. He looked at her hand and noticed she had come in with a healing staff. They both stared at each other in silence.

After a minute Narcian broke the silence. "Does everyone in this army, save for Carlos and a few others, have abnormal hair color?"

The Pegasus Knight just smiled at him. "Well, it's not like we can help it. Most of us are born with it." Narcian smiled back. "Well that's fine by me. Besides, Chrom wouldn't look like Chrom if he didn't have blue hair. Say, who are you? I don't recall meeting you at all."

"I'm Cordelia. I'm one of the Pegasus Knights. And you're Narcian, aren't you?"

"Yes. That's my name." Narcian replied. "So I'm assuming you're in here to patch me up some more or something?"

"No," Cordelia said, "I'm here to rejuvenate you. This staff is used for giving fresh energy to those who are lacking in it."

Narcian lay back on his bed. "Alright. How do you do it?"

"Like this," Cordelia responded. She put the top end to Narcian's chest, and then took a deep breath. The end pointing to Narcian glowed green. Narcian felt as if he was starting to get hyper. His body was filling up with energy. Cordelia then brought the staff back up. Feeling energized, Narcian jumped out of bed and stretched.

"Ah, now THIS is how I should feel everyday I wake up!" Narcian had never felt better in his life.

"I glad that worked," Cordelia said. She started toward Narcian, but tripped and fell into his arms. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Narcian, still holding Cordelia asked, "What's wrong? You seemed fine when you came in."

"Oh. The staff saps some of your energy as you use it. I wanted to give you a fresh energy boost, so I use a lot of my energy to, uh, give you energy."

"Really?" Narcian was surprised. No one other than Chrom and Carlos had ever done anything this nice for him. He decided to return the favor. "Alright. Since I'm the one brimming with energy, I'll carry you around until you have the energy to walk. Is that fine with you?" Cordelia looked up into his eyes and smiled at his offer. "Why sure! I was just about to ask you myself."

* * *

Narcian grabbed his weapons and then strapped their sheathes to his belt. He scrawled a note on the door saying that he left for the garrison. With Cordelia in his arms, he left his ward. Cordelia pointed out the directions, and Narcian followed them. They soon made it back to the garrison. It was already night when he reached his tent. With Cordelia still in his arms, he sat down on a bench and looked to the stars.

"You know, for some reason the constellation of a six-winged death dragon still appears in the night sky. The other constellations will disappear, but that one has been hanging around for some time." Cordelia looked up to the sky. "Yeah, I've noticed that too. Maybe it's a sign." She then brought her head to his chest and fell asleep. Narcian took her to his tent, because he didn't know where hers was, and put her in his bed. He then went outside and lay on the ground, gazing at the stars.

"Huh. For some reason the constellation of my sword is still in the night sky as well. Strange. I'll never understand these unexplainable things that happen." He eyelids started to droop. "Maybe tomorrow Chrom will announce that we are heading to Valm. I've been dying for action." Narcian put his head back and soon fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

"Attention Shepherds! The captain would like for all of us to meet in the mess hall to discuss some important matters! Don't be late!"

Narcian woke up upon hearing this. Getting himself off the ground, he went to his tent to wake Cordelia. He found her still sleeping soundly in his bed. Narcian went up and shook her awake.

"Hey? Wake up! We've been called to the mess hall to discuss something important!"

Cordelia jumped out of bed. "Oh. I must have been sleeping so soundly that I couldn't hear them." Narcian stretched and yawned. "Yeah. Well now you're awake. Let's go before our captain gets impatient." So both Narcian and Cordelia rushed to the mess hall. Surprisingly, they and a few others were the only ones there. Narcian looked to his left and saw Chrom discussing something with Carlos. Looking to his right he saw Henry and Gaius at one of the tables taking turns flipping a coin and taking bets on which side would flip upwards. He went to the nearest table and sat down on the bench. He pulled out a knife and a piece of wood and started whittling a miniature version of himself. He made sure to carve intricate details on his miniature figure to increase the resemblance. When he finished, he put it on the table in front of him and stared at it for a couple minutes.

"Wow. That figure was pretty well done. Are you a natural at this?"

Narcian turned around. A blue haired woman was standing behind him. "Who are you?" Narcian asked. "Oh, I'm sorry. I should have introduced myself. I'm Lucina. I'm Chrom's daughter." Narcian stood up. "Chrom's daughter? Huh. I would think he would be an old man by the time you grew up to be what you are now."

"No. I came from the future."

Narcian gave her an incredulous look. "What? How is that even possible? From the future?"

"It's hard to explain," Lucina said. "Long story short, future was destroyed by fell dragon Grima, me and some others were forced to go back in time to prevent Armageddon, and now I'm here." She then looked at Narcian with curiosity. "And who are you? I don't remember you ever being in the Shepherd's army."

"I am Narcian, former General of Bern." Narcian said. "And if you have a problem with me being here I'm afraid that you'll have to put up with me for a long time." Lucina looked surprised. "Oh, no! I didn't mean to offend you Narcian, sir. I just don't recall you being in the army during my time."

Narcian smiled mockingly. "Well, times change. Wouldn't you agree, princess?"

Lucina glared at him, then turned and left him. Narcian sat back down. Cordelia came up and sat next to him.

"Just about everyone is here. I think Chrom is going to give his announcement soon." Cordelia said to him. "Is it okay if I sit next to you?"

Narcian nodded his head. "Of course. I've got no problem with that." Cordelia sighed in relief. "Oh thank you. The reason I asked is because I have no friends to sit by and I usually sit by myself." Narcian gave her a friendly smile. "Well, if you're ever feeling lonely, you can always hang out with me if you want."

Chrom then got up and stood in front of everyone. "Everyone, can I have your attention please! I have an announcement to make." Chrom took a deep breath. "We are going to war with Valm. We leave for the Valmese continent today."

"Carlos, our tactician, is second-in-command. You will treat his orders as if they are mine. Also, regarding out trip to Valm. There is no turning back. We do not leave until Valm is stopped. Do you all understand?" Everyone nodded. Chrom sighed in relief. "Good. I don't have to repeat anything then." With that he left the mess hall. Everyone left as well to prepare for the long voyage."

When everyone was ready, Chrom and the Shepherds headed for Port Ferox. When they arrived there, they all boarded the ships given to them by the Plegians and Validar. One the leading ship, Carlos was listing off the names of Shepherds that were put on his ship.

"…Narcian, Cordelia, Lucina, Myself, Chrom, Henry, Gaius…"

Carlos then put his scroll away. "Alright then. I think everyone who was assigned to this ship is here." He then went to his cabin.

Narcian sat down on a bench. This was his second time on a ship. But this time he was heading toward the enemy instead of running away from them. He looked over to Lucina. She glared at him and then looked away. Narcian just smiled to himself. "She must still be sour over what happened today," he said to himself. Wondering if she would ever get over it, he decided to call out to her.

"Hey, princess! Maybe if you cut your hair, I might stop being a pest!" Lucina turned and walked toward him. She looked livid. "Would you like to say that again and see what happens?" she threatened him, glaring at him. Narcian just grinned. "Why yes. I said maybe if you cut your hair, I might stop being a pest. What are you going to do about it?" Lucina narrowed her eyes, and then stormed toward Carlos' cabin. "I don't think telling uncle Carlos is going to solve anything, princess!" Narcian roared with laughter. He had never laughed this hard in his life. He nearly fell over when someone came up to him.

"You know, I think you should stop antagonizing Lucina like that Narcian."

He stopped laughing and looked up to see Cordelia. "Ah, you're right. The girl doesn't deserve being teased like that. After all-" Narcian said in an unusually loud voice, "-she IS the princess! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Cordelia couldn't help but laugh along with Narcian as well. The two of them laughed together for five minutes. After they calmed down, Cordelia sat next to Narcian. "I really think you should stop giving Lucina a hard time though."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll go apologize to her later. I'll wait until she calms down a bit."

"Narcian," Cordelia said to him, "do you consider us friends?"

Narcian looked at her and smiled. "Why yes I consider us friends."

Cordelia smiled back at him. "Oh, thank you Narcian. I've never had any friends except for Sumia. I'm glad you consider us friends."

Narcian looked up to the sky. "I've never had any friends, only lieutenants, servants, and subordinates. My crazy king said that my war skills were far more important than petty friendships. For some time I believed him. Later on, however, I got lonely. My lieutenant got killed, many of my men died, and all I got from Zephiel was a demotion." Narcian looked to the floor. Tears were starting to form in his eyes. "I always regret how I let my men die more and more every time I think of them. I was careless and paid the price with someone else's blood."

"That's terrible." Cordelia grabbed his hand and held in an attempt to comfort him. "You can't blame yourself for something that was out of your hands."

Narcian shook his head. "No. I could've stayed back and helped my men. But I instead left them to die. I never hesitated on leaving them. I didn't care." Narcian put his open hand to his head. "I should've died with them."

Cordelia began stroking his shoulder. "Don't say that Narcian. Yes, you may have made some bad choices, but we all do at times. Instead of hanging on to the past, you should acknowledge what you did and move on."

Narcian looked at her, tears streaming down his face. "You're right. Holding on to it will solve nothing. I'll strive to change my ways, no matter how long it takes."

Cordelia rested her head on his shoulder. "I think you've changed a lot, judging on what you told me you were like before." Narcian wiped his eyes and managed a smile. "Thanks," he said. The sun started to set and night was coming. He was starting to get tired. Closing his eyes, he put his head back and fell asleep.

"Chrom! Bad news! Valmese ships are approaching! We have to act fast!"

"Valmese ships! Blast! Carlos, wake everyone on the ship, and tell them to meet us on the deck."

"Yes sir!"

Narcian and Cordelia woke up. Hearing Carlos calling for everyone to come on the deck, they got up, rushed to the weapons storage to grab their weapons, and rushed back on to the deck. Chrom was looking worried while Carlos was looking through a telescope looking at something.

"I can't count how many ships there are Chrom, but our fleet won't stand a chance against them."

"You called us father?" Lucina and a few others were rushing to meet them. Narcian turned to say something but stopped. He looked at her head and almost fell backwards in surprise.

"Yeah, I cut my hair. I asked Carlos to trim it extra short for you. Now will you shut up?"

Narcian smiled at her. "Well princess, I'm sorry about all of that teasing I was doing. And if I must say, you look much prettier with you're hair like that."

Lucina blushed furiously. "S-stop it! Narcian, I can handle your teasing, but when you complement me in some way it makes me feel—uncomfortable."

"Alright. May God forbid that I ever say something nice to you again."

"Okay you two, enough talking. Listen up everyone. Valm is attempting to surround us. Narcian, you, Cordelia, and Lucina will go for the commander's ship. Your job is to kill the commander. Doing that should put the Valmese soldiers in disarray.

Narcian turned to Lucina. "Well, well princess. It looks like you and I are going to have a date with the commander of Valm. Now won't that be interesting?" Lucina smiled at him. "Oh yes Narcian. I'm looking forward to having a date with _you_!"


	8. Chapter 8

Valm made the first move. Wyvern Riders and Pegasus Knights were headed straight at them, axes and lances at the ready. Having no better idea on hand, Narcian grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows and went up to the crow's nest of the ship. Aiming carefully, he shot at an incoming Wyvern Rider. The shot landed right between the eyes of the rider, and he fell. He then shot down a Pegasus Knight who threw a javelin at him that almost pierced his left arm. Looking to the horizon, Narcian sighed in disbelief. Hundreds of Riders and Knights were heading in his direction, each with the intent of killing him.

"Oh God, I think I'm going to break a sweat from doing this."

Two Riders came from the left and right, axes ready to chop him in two. Timing it just right, he ducked and the Riders collided, axes in each other's skulls. He then got up and shot forward. The shot hit another Rider, who fell off his mount and plummeted down toward the vast ocean. On instinct he turned around and shot behind him, hitting a Pegasus Knight in the forehead and sent them falling out of the sky. After many Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Riders later, Narcian ran out of arrows. Fortunately, there were fewer air units in the air, and none of them wanted to get close to the ship.

"Ack! I'm breaking a sweat!" Narcian complained, wiping his forehead. He climbed down and joined the others. "Alright, I'm ready," he said.

"Get ready guys," Carlos said, "The commander's ship is coming in range. When they get close enough they will board the ship to attack. Try to take down the commander while taking down other Valm soldiers as well. Chrom, a few others, and I are boarding another ship for safety. Stick together." With that Carlos joined Chrom and the others in a longboat. They set off to another ship not too far away from the one they left. Narcian pulled out his sword, then glanced at the incoming ships. "Their commander better be ready," he said, "I don't want to win an easy fight."

* * *

On the commander's ship, Ignatius was getting frustrated. Besides having few aerial units on hand, his soldiers were starting to have second thoughts on fighting and some had even jumped off the ship. Ignatius had a few men left on his ship.

"THIS…IS…GETTING…INFURIATING!" He yelled. "MY MEN HAVE DESERTED ME, AND THE ENEMY APPROACHES! WHAT NOW?"

"Well Ignatius," said a voice from behind him, "It looks like your fate is sealed. But don't worry: I'll handle everything once you're dead."

Ignatius turned around. "What—Lucian? What are you doing here?

The man named Lucian sneered. "Walhart sent me to see if things were going as planned. I now see things are happening exactly they are supposed to be."

Lucian was one of the commanders of Valm, as well as being the head tactician, and was Walhart's right-hand man. Lucian used to be Walhart's personal lieutenant. Having Lucian fight alongside him, Walhart had noticed Lucian's skills in combat and planning. Seeing his potential, Walhart moved him to the rank of squad captain, giving him his own personal attack squad to lead. This proved to be a wise choice as Lucian led his troops with ease, and led crucial missions that brought down the neighboring countries in the early days of Valm's conquest. Walhart moved him up again, this time to commander. In the final days of Valm's conquest, the neighboring countries banded together as a last resort to hold off Valm. Valm was forced to retreat a large battle, and Walhart was severely wounded. Deciding to end the war with a victory for Valm, Lucian took temporary command in place of Walhart. Mustering Valm's forces, he waged total war on every country they went to. They burned and destroyed everything to the ground, killing enemy soldiers and innocent civilians alike. By the time they were done, more than half the continent of Valm was completely devastated. When Walhart heard the news, he was surprised and extremely impressed with Lucian. Lucian became the most decorated soldier in all of Valm, and was paid heavily for his service in the Valmese army.

Despite his services for Valm, not many people liked Lucian. Citizens thought that he was a danger to everyone and shouldn't be trusted. Commanders despised him because he was Walhart's favorite. Many Valmese soldiers did not feel safe whenever Lucian led them. Although they never lost a battle when he led them, they felt he was too reckless. He didn't even care how many soldiers they lost, and never regretted any of their deaths. The only ones that actually liked him, besides Walhart, were his subordinates. They were a band of Lucian's most trusted friends and peers who were in his inner circle. They trusted him with their lives, and were willing to die for him no matter what the consequences were. In return, Lucian always aided them in their times of need. Should any one of them be in a life-threatening situation, Lucian would assist them and save them.

He was also different from the other commanders and soldiers. Instead of the typical sword, axe, or lance, he wielded a scythe. He was also an experienced magician who used magic as his secondary weapon. His armor was dark gray; with some parts like his shoulder pieces, gauntlets, and some plating on his breastplate were a lighter blue. He also wore a black cape, which he kept washed and clean. His handsome facial features and long, light blue hair might've suggested that he came from a royal family. But there was one thing that separated him from any Valmese soldier or citizen: he was Grimleal. Walhart had banned religion of any kind in Valm, and anyone that was religious was killed on the spot. However, he did not care that Lucian was religious, and even allowed Lucian to preform Grimleal rituals. Lucian was also very devout in being a Grimleal. Whenever getting ready for battle, he would always perform a ritual and worship Grima before leaving for battle. After a battle he would perform another ritual and praise Grima. Whether Grima answered him or not, the people could agree on one thing: Lucian was the most fierce and cruel Valmese commander ever to walk on the face of the earth.

* * *

Ignatius gave him a surprised look. "Huh? What are you talking about? We're headed right toward death—"

"Correction, _you're_ headed towards death, as well as your crew. I can go free."

"What, how? What do you mean?"

Lucian just kept smiling at him. "Well Ignatius, do you really think that I would have actually come here if I knew that I couldn't get back Valm?"

Ignatius fell silent. He knew that arguing with Lucian was out of the question. Lucian, feeling satisfied with shutting up Ignatius, turned to face the front of the ship.

"Ignatius," he ordered, "You and your men will attack those Ylisseans. I know you will ultimately end up dying. I will then clean up the mess you and the Ylisseans will make, and then leave for Valm."

Ignatius put his foot down. "No! I will not walk into battle just to die because you told me to!"

"Would you rather have me kill you instead, or would you like to die valiantly in battle and remembered as a hero?"

Ignatius gave in. "Alright. I'll do it. Just why do I have to die?"

Lucian had a suspicious smile. "Oh, it's simply fate that you must die. It is your destiny to die here, Ignatius."

Confused by what Lucian had said, Ignatius organized his remaining troops and told them to be ready. The Ylisseans were almost there.

* * *

"Anytime now," Narcian said. They were now right next to the Valmese ship. The Valmese soldiers put down the boarding plank and advanced toward the three Shepherds.

"GO!" Narcian yelled. They charged toward the enemy. Lucina rushed ahead and fell four soldiers in one strike. Cordelia was busy jabbing and enemy swordsman with her lance, and Narcian was fighting two soldiers at once. After chopping both of their heads, he turned and faced Ignatius.

Readying his swords, Narcian spoke to Ignatius. "You must be the commander. I am Narcian. Prepare to die."

Ignatius readied his spear. "I don't care what he says, I will carve my own fate. I will…not…lose!" He threw his spear at Narcian. Narcian easily dodged it, and then trapped Ignatius in a Binding Sigil. Charging at Ignatius, he ran his sword through Ignatius' stomach. Ignatius yelled in pain as the sigil released him and he fell to the ground. "I…how? Lucian…how did…you know?" With those words he breathed his last, and died.

Narcian sighed in relief. "That was easy," he said.

"Oh was it?" A voice called out from somewhere. "Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid it has only begun."

A man had jumped off the highest mast and landed before Narcian. "Hello Narcian. I am commander Lucian."

Narcian took a step back in surprise. "How do you know my name?"

"Oh, I have my sources, former General of Bern. I see you have friends fighting alongside you this time. I thought it was your preference to work alone."

"How do you know all this?" Narcian couldn't figure out how this man knew so much about him."

"That's enough talk," Lucina said as she stepped forward, her sword at the ready. "It's three against one, commander. Surrender and we may spare you."

"Surrender?" Lucian sneered, "Heh, I could wipe you all out right now, but why don't we make things a little—unfair?" Lucian snapped his fingers. Two men leaped out of nowhere. One was muscular and large, and the other more slim. The muscular one wielded two massive axes, and the other wielded two jousting lances. The slim one had light armor to increase maneuverability while protecting him, while the other one had a large breastplate and greaves.

"Meet two of my friends," Lucian said. "Alastor," he said looking to the axe wielder, "and Garrison," he said looking to the lance wielder. "Alastor, keep the lance-wielder busy," he said, "and Garrison, you keep the sword-wielder busy. I have some business to attend to."

Alastor and Garrison both nodded, and then advanced on their targets. Narcian, finding no way to escape, readied both of his swords and faced off with Lucian.

"You are a bright one," Narcian said, "You played by the rules of the weapon triangle, and they are now in your favor."

Lucian grinned smugly. "Well of course, but I don't play by those rules myself," he said, pulling out his scythe and brandishing it. "Alright. I'm going to enjoy swinging my scythe into you."

Narcian made the first move. He used his sigil sword to create a Binding Sigil, but Lucian was somehow able to avoid being imprisoned by it. He brought his scythe down and it grazed Narcian's shoulder. Ignoring the pain, he tried throwing Rivalseeker at Lucian, but Lucian avoided the incoming blade. Then Lucian did something Narcian could not figure how he had done it. Lucian sneered at Narcian, waved a mocking hand goodbye, and _teleported_. He could not find where Lucian had gone. Looking around, he saw Cordelia and Lucina were having trouble fighting. Alastor enjoyed breaking Cordelia's defenses over and over again while Garrison entertained himself by watching Lucina trying to defend herself from his lance jabs unsuccessfully. Narcian couldn't figure out who to help.

"You should've looked behind you," someone called out. Narcian turned around and caught Lucian's scythe blade in his stomach. Screaming in pain, he dropped his weapons and fell to his knees. Lucian took a swing at Narcian's head. Narcian tried to duck, but the scythe cut him on his forehead before he got his head down. Narcian fell to the ground from the blow. Lucian laughed cruelly.

"Are you done fighting already? Get up! Get up so I can knock you back down!"

Narcian thought about it for a second, picked up his swords, and managed to stand up.

"Cordelia! Lucina! Catch!" He yelled to them. He threw his sigil sword to Lucina and Rivalseeker to Cordelia. With the sigil sword in hand, Lucina imprisoned Garrison with a binding sigil and disarmed him, while Cordelia was gaining the upper hand against Alastor by wielding Rivalseeker. She found an opening and struck Alastor in his side. Alastor yelled in fury and pain as he dropped his axes and clutched his side. Lucian nodded his head in approval.

"So you decided that your friends' lives were more important that yours? How sweet! I will remember that even after your death."

Lucian advanced on Narcian and took a large swing at him. "GET READY TO DIE! AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" The blade of the scythe dug straight into Narcian stomach, then Lucian took care to rip it violently out of him. Blood gushed out of Narcian's open wound. He tried to stand up, but Lucian struck him in the back. Narcian fell over and didn't have the strength to get up. He heard Lucian speaking to Alastor and Garrison. "Let's go. We've already done what we needed to do." He heard a sound like blustering wind, and they were gone. Narcian was starting to lose the strength to stay conscious.

"_So this is the end. I die here the way I started: useless and alone. But, it can't end here. Not yet. I refuse to die like this. I prefer to die by an opponent that will actually finish me off._"

Trying to stay awake, he slowly tried to get up. His vision was blurred, but he could make out the ship and ocean. Trying to stay standing, he attempted to walk towards the mast, but stumbled. Someone caught him before he fell over. Holding him tightly, they made there way to what Narcian thought was a third ship. On deck he could hear frantic voices.

"Chrom, come quick! Oh gods, he's a mess!"

"Yes Ca— By the gods! Get him to the healing chamber immediately!"

"Oh no! Narcian!"

"What happened?"

"Narcian, don't go to the light!"

Narcian, losing the energy to stay conscious, let his head drop and passed out.

* * *

**I hope this chapter was long enough, because that's what I was aiming for. I also needed to make this one longer because I needed to introduce Lucian, who is one of the most important characters. The reason Lucian had such a large bio was so that one could get a large idea of who he was, how he connected or will connect to things and events, and to give him a profile of himself. I hope reading his profile was bearable, and if the chapter wasn't long enough let me know. Oh, and I will most likely ****not**** have another large profile for a character like Lucian in the future. It would take forever to get anything done. I am also going to take my time on the next chapter. Well, I've said all there is to say, so I'll see you around!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow. I've been busy lately, so I haven't had time to work on the next chapter of anything. I'll try to update more often. No rushing of course.**

"Lucian," Walhart called. Lucian walked up to the throne room and faced Walhart. After kneeling he said, "Yes master, you called for me?"

"I did, Lucian. I want a report on the fleet that was headed for toward the neighboring continent."

Lucian smiled slyly. "Oh. They have been long dead, master. They didn't know what they were doing."

Walhart nodded in acknowledgement. "I see. What I am wondering is why you didn't lead them to victory. You could've defeated them easily."

Lucian, still smiling, shook his head. "No master. Your men already had given up hope by the time I got there. Such failures had no place in our army, so I decided to wipe out the whole lot of them."

Walhart looked surprised. "Lucian, that was hundreds of soldiers—"

"Correction, that was hundreds of useless cowards now disposed from the Valmese army." Lucian sneered. "Oh, and they were doomed from the start. It was fate that they were headed for doom. Nothing could've changed that."

Walhart stood up. "I—understand. Lucian, I have General Cervantes positioned at the Mila Tree. What will become of him, when the enemy comes to him?"

Lucian chuckled softly. "He will survive, but he will have failed. He will flee the battle, leaving your soldiers to die."

Walhart suddenly became furious. "WHAT! General Cervantes, a coward!? He better not flee that battle, or I will strip him of his rank!"

Lucian, who was not startled from Walhart's sudden outburst, stood there grinning. He knew who would replace Cervantes if he was demoted.

"Lucian, you are dismissed," Walhart said, cooling down. Lucian bowed, then left for his quarters.

"Heh, fate can be tricky… for those who are weak-minded." He muttered to himself. "Little does Walhart know that _I_ actually caused the deaths of all of the Valmese soldiers out at sea. By fate, some were supposed to survive."

Lucian went and locked himself in his room. "Oh, but I knew the battle like the back of my hand. That tactician's plan was perfect, since I knew the perfect positioning for all of the Valmese ships. Just line them up in a wall, then let the enemy charge into them at set them ablaze. Oh, the fire on the water looked so majestic."

Lucian smiled devilishly at the thought of the suffering soldiers. "Oh yes, the thought brings pleasure. However…" Lucian then walked up to a weapons rack he had in a corner of his room. "Fate never said anything of the narcissistic General of Bern joining the fight. I know he still lives even at this very moment." Lucian's eyes glowed red for a second. "I can hear his heart beat. It still beats. Still…"

Lucian then grabbed the hilt of a sword. Pulling it out, he brought it up and examined it. It was Ragnell, the legendary blade the Radiant Hero had wielded. Grinning, he put it back in the weapons rack.

"Oh well. How hard can it be? I've killed my fair share of legendary heroes, both in my time and not."

With that Lucian grabbed a knife and started to sharpen it. "Heh heh. I will have two more swords for my collection. Actually, just one. I just remembered my shadowy servant wielded that sigil sword I loaned him."

Lucian paused to look at the knife, then continued to sharpen it. "Oh yes. I will enjoy actually trying in battle against Narcian. A-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Lucian laughed darkly as he sharpened his knife and bided his time. Soon, he would take control of everything and obliterate the world.

* * *

Narcian opened his eyes. He found he was in a medical bed. He tried to get up, but feeling excruciating pain from all directions, he decided to just lie there.

"_Uhh. Well, here I am again. Badly injured and incapable of moving. The only difference this time is it was life threatening and I almost died. Who was that man? How did he know so much about me? Well, I'm not likely to find out anytime soon. Huh. What do I do now?_"

Narcian tried to look around while trying not to hurt himself. They were still on the seas. He looked at his chest. It was heavily bandaged. He saw his cloak hanging on the door handle. That's when he realized he was shirtless. Looking under his blankets, he sighed in relief when he saw his pants still on his legs.

"Oh good. They didn't strip me completely after all," he said to himself.

He then let his head fall back on pillow. Now he was bored. He tried to get up again. Ignoring the pain, he got up. He felt weak in his legs, and almost fell over. Trying to balance, the ship suddenly rocked to the left and he fell over. His whole body hurt for a few seconds. He then got up slowly. Someone then open the door. He turned to see who it was.

"Narcian! You're awake!"

"Oh, thank the gods! Narcian's alive!"

Cordelia rushed up and embraced him tightly. Ignoring the pain again, he brought up his arms and embraced her in return. Behind him he could feel someone stroking his hair. He turned his head to see Lucina surprisingly caressing his head. Deciding to enjoy the moment, he exhaled and let himself relax into Cordelia's arms.

"_Hmm. I feel much better now. The pain seems to be subsiding. Whatever. I'm glad to be alive._"

* * *

Back on deck, Chrom and Carlos were discussing important matters.

"Carlos, how are we going to take down Valm's forces? Their forces are too much for our forces to handle."

"Chrom, I have no idea. Valm's soldiers are not abysmally stupid on their home turf as they were days ago."

"Yeah. I wondered what they were trying to accomplish when they were making a wall barricade with their ships. It made the plan too easy."

"Yeah, I wonder." Carlos paced on the deck.

"Carlos?"

"Yeah Chrom?"

"Can I talk to you about something? About Lucina?"

Carlos stopped and faced Chrom. "Sure. What about her do you want to talk about?"

Chrom frowned. "I think she's getting obsessed with Narcian. She's hardly met him, and yet she's always thinking of him. In fact, when we brought Narcian to the medic room, she was pale and having silent fits. At night, I could've sworn I heard her muttering to herself things like 'he will survive' and 'His fate is to be with me, not with death.'

Carlos started pacing again. "I don't know Chrom. I think she just rushes into everything too fast. Heck, she seemed to want to fight with the Valmese right away."

Chrom put his hand to his face. "I think it's this fate nonsense. She believes everything is determined by fate."

"Do you?"

Chrom brought down his hand from his face and looked at Carlos.

"No. I believe that we can choose our own fate."

"Ha-ha yeah. Destiny is overrated." Carlos seemed to lose his seriousness for a second. Regaining focus and seriousness, he straightened himself up.

"Right. I think I will be calling it a night. I'll leave you to think about what I've discussed with you."

Carlos then headed for his cabin. Chrom, now bored and lonely, stared at the stars in the night sky. After a few minutes he decided to call it a night as well. So he went to the captain's cabin and jumped into bed. Within seconds, he was asleep.

* * *

It was the middle of the night, and everywhere in Valm was quiet. No one was awake. It was all peaceful.

A shrill scream shattered the night. A Valmese woman had a blade sticking through her heart. A scythe blade. Behind her, the man wielding the scythe laughed. His light blue hair blew in the night wind.

"Sweet dreams… FOR ETERNITY! A-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Lucian strolled through the quiet town. He was expecting someone.

That someone arrived. A figure fell from the sky and landed in front of Lucian. He was a manly figure who wore complete black clothing, as well as a black blindfold over his eyes.

"Lucian," the man said, "I came as you requested."

Lucian grinned smugly. "Why yes, I did want to discuss something with you. I want you to capture the Ylissean tactician Carlos for me. _Alive_."

The man nodded. "Yes, I can capture him. However, I want my payment before I hand him over."

Lucian sneered. "Patience, my friend. You will be satisfied with your reward—" Lucian stroked the blade of his scythe. "—Provided that you don't kill him. I want him fresh for the killing."

The man bowed. "Yes sir. It shall be done." The man then leaped backwards into the darkness behind him and vanished. Lucian turned to head back to Valm castle, still grinning smugly.

"I will kill that tactician. Only I can wield that destructive power. He is not a suitable vessel. I on the other hand, am more than a suitable vessel. Soon, I will sink this world and everything in it into the underworld."

* * *

The next day, Narcian was bored to death. Wandering around on the deck, he couldn't think of anything to do. He sighed heavily.

"There is nothing to do around here. I'm almost sick of sailing right about now!" Narcian sat down on a bench. "Well, I suppose I must just accept the truth. I am so bored, and there is nothing to do around here!"

"Well, if you're bored, you can spend so time with me."

Narcian turned his head and was surprised to see Lucina standing there.

"I thought you absolutely despised me. When we first met, you looked as if you wanted to kill me."

Lucina grabbed his hand and yanked him up. "None of that matters. Come Narcian. I want to show you something."

Narcian felt as if he didn't have a choice. She was already dragging him to the crew's quarters, so he thought he might as well play along. He wondered where she was taking him. Then she suddenly turned into a room and pulled him inside. Narcian assumed it was her room. He faced her and saw she had locked the door tightly shut.

"If this is a murder scheme, it's not the brightest. I can break the door off its hinges pretty easy. Plus you're unarmed, and our weapons are all at the weapons storage."

Lucina, instead of leering at him for his remark, merely smiled at him. "I have no intention of killing you at all." She walked up to him slowly. "I thought you might want to spend some quality time with me—alone."

Narcian backed into the door. "What do you mean? We can do that just about anywhere."

Lucina started to stroke his hair. "Yeah, well, here we can be together without—interruption."

Narcian wasn't sure he felt safe locked in a room with Lucina. The door was latched tightly shut. The only idea that came into his mind—and he wasn't even sure if it was even a great idea—was to shout as loud as he could.

Narcian cleared his throat. "Ahh…ALRIGHT! IF YOU DON'T MIND, I'LL BE LEAVING SHORTLY. CHROM AND THE OTHERS MIGHT WONDER WHERE I—"

He didn't get to finish what he was saying. Lucina grabbed him and threw him onto her bed. Narcian hit his head on the head of the bed and was knocked out on impact.

Narcian regained consciousness. He didn't know how much time had passed. He went to get up, but felt something keeping him down. He looked and saw Lucina resting on him, sleeping soundly. Crying out in disgust, he kicked her off, and she flew into a wall. Seeing she had not wakened from the impact, he ran and busted through the door.

"_WHY did I not think of doing that in the first place? It would've made things much easier!_"

He rushed out to the deck. He realized he was still running and caught himself before he ran off the ship. Looking forwards, he saw that they were heading towards Valm harbor.

"Finally. I was getting so sick of stupid sailing." He decided to find Carlos. He found him in the master cabin talking with Chrom.

"Well, we've finally made it. I've been getting sick of this blasted sailing."

"Same here. As for plans, I haven't had time to plot or plan our conquest of Valm, but I assure you I will have them."

Narcian walked through the door. "Were almost at shore. We should head up to the deck. We need to be ready for anything."

The two men turned to face him. "Narcian!" Chrom said in surprise, "There you are! We've been looking all over for you."

Narcian gave him a puzzled look. "Wait—I was missing?"

Carlos nodded. "Yes, you've been gone for hours. We thought you might've jumped off because you were getting sick of sailing."

Narcian thought hard to remember where he was that day.

"How long was I gone?"

"Oh from yesterday afternoon to right now, that's all."

Narcian thought harder, and then the answer came to him. He slapped his hand to his face. "How long was I knocked out? Geez, that's a long time," he muttered to himself. He let out a long, deep sigh.

He looked at Chrom. "Your daughter decided to keep me locked in her room, knock me out, and hold me there as if I were some kind of cuddling doll or something."

Chrom shook his head, and Carlos put his hand to his mouth to cover a grin.

"Well, I'll talk to her for you Narcian," Chrom said.

Narcian sighed in relief. "Good. Please do. She is driving me insane, and I cannot focus when she's around."

Chrom nodded, then left. Carlos turned and looked at Narcian.

"Narcian, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Can you be my bodyguard?"

Narcian was taken aback. "Why me? Don't you think someone like Fredrick could do better at that job?"

Carlos merely looked away. "I have my reasons. So, are you up for the job?"

Narcian thought about it, then nodded.

"Sure. I'll take it on."

Carlos looked at him and nodded.

"Good, because I'm going to need someone to watch my back."

* * *

"Commander Lucian! The Ylisseans have reached the harbor!"

Lucian grinned smugly. "I see. Tell Farber that he is to make an attempt to stop them."

"Attempt, sir?"

Lucian turned and struck the soldier. "You heard me, an attempt! Go to him and tell him those exact words, nothing else!"

"Y-yes sir!" The frightened soldier scurried off to tell Farber. Lucian looked down on the Valm harbor, cruelty etched into every part of his face.

"Oh yes, the enemy has fallen into my hands, and thus into my control," he sneered. "And that tactician will soon meet his demise…at my hands!"

Lucian laughed darkly. He had been waiting for his chance to end Carlos, and now the chance had come. He sat down, stroking the blade of his scythe. "Soon," he said to himself, "soon…"

Back on the harbor, the Shepherds were in battle with the Valmese soldiers. Chrom led his men through battle while Farber yelled commands to his soldiers. The shepherds were winning easily.

"COME ON!" Farber yelled to his men, "we must not fail for the great and mighty Walhart! Fight harder! Fight—"

Carlos swung his sword at Farber's breastplate, leaving a deep gash across his chest. Farber fell off his horse, and died.

"Everyone, cease fighting!" Chrom commanded his troops, "The Valmese are retreating!"

Everyone ceased fighting. Narcian wiped the sweat off his forehead and sheathed his sword. He walked up to Carlos, who was sheathing his sword and putting away his Thoron tome.

"Well, that went well," he said to Carlos.

Carlos nodded in agreement. "Yes, it almost seemed too easy."

Narcian opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. He sensed something. He looked around, eyes darting to everything he saw.

Suddenly, on impulse, he rushed at Carlos. "Get down!" He shouted. He brought down Carlos, and the two of them fell face first into the sand. Narcian looked to where Carlos was standing, and saw three arrows sticking out of the sand. He got up and pulled out an arrow. Grabbing a crossbow, he loaded it and looked around. For a minute, it seemed that there was nothing there. Everyone watched him intently. He suddenly swung his arm out to his side and shot. Everyone cringed at the sound of arrow piercing flesh. Narcian looked to his right were he shot, and saw a blindfolded man fall out of a tree.

"A Night Assailant," Carlos said in amazement, "assassins of the night who hide in the shadows and strike when no one notices. Defeating one is really hard, although finding one is harder still."

Narcian threw the crossbow aside, and approached the dead assailant. The assailant had black, messy hair and wore all black. "I wonder what a Night Assailant would be doing out here in the day," Narcian said to himself. He bent down to get a closer look at the assassin's face. A black blindfold covered his eyes. Curious, Narcian pulled off the blindfold to see his eyes. When he did he jumped in surprise and nearly threw up. The assassin's eyes were pale white. The irises had lost their color and become white, and the pupils, despite never seeing light, were really small. The eyes never seemed to move. Instead of rolling into the back of the head or otherwise, they just stared straight forward.

"Hey Carlos," Narcian called, "why do these night assailants wear blindfolds? It makes their eyes all disgusting and empty looking."

"The Night Assailants all wear blindfolds because they do not rely on 'normal' sight. Their sight is the sharpened focus of the mind to sense everything around them. It's said they can even 'see' through things because their senses allow them to. That's one of the reasons they are such good assassins."

"Oh, so you so much about Night Assailants, do you?" A voice called out from somewhere, "Well, I'm afraid to say that your knowledge will not do you any good once you're dead."

Lucian jumped from a craggy cliff in front of Carlos. He took a swing at Carlos and managed to give him a wide gash on his side. Carlos screamed in pain as he grabbed his side and fell to the ground, his blood spilling out fast.

Narcian ran forward and positioned himself between Lucian and Carlos.

"Hello Lucian," Narcian said, pulling out his sword.

Lucian readied his scythe and sneered. "Hello Narcian. Good to see you again…"

* * *

**Yeah, there was not much action that took place in this chapter. The next chapter and the chapter after that I will find a way to add a lot of action and fighting into. Hang tight and see you later!**


	10. Chapter 10

Narcian dashed at Lucian. Lucian retaliated by swinging his scythe at Narcian's head. Narcian slid to avoid the blade, and made a swing for Lucian's leg. Anticipating this, Lucian lashed out his foot into Narcian's face and back-flipped to put some distance between them.

"Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! What's wrong Narcian? Are you scared to face me one-on-one?

Narcian wiped the blood dripping from his nose and stood up. "You're one to talk. You're standing over there, calling me a coward and not rushing me down when you have the chance. I think you're the—"

Lucian rushed at Narcian at tried to drive his scythe into Narcian's heart. Narcian predicted his movement and jumped to the side, then struck Lucian in the shoulder with his sword. Lucian roared in rage as he tried to nail Narcian with his scythe hundreds of time, missing over and over again. Narcian then struck his left leg. Lucian dropped down on one knee, screaming in anger.

"YOU COWARD! FIGHT LIKE A MAN, WON'T YOU?"

Narcian responded by striking him in the back. Lucian cried out in pain as he fell to the ground. For a second, he didn't make a sound. Then he started to laugh. He got up laughing maniacally, and started swinging his scythe in circles. The winds kicked up and the clouds started to churn. Lightning struck from the sky as Lucian kept spinning his scythe. Electricity started sparking from the blade and a blue stream started trailing from the scythe. Lucian's eyes glowed an electric blue and he started to levitate. He then brought down his scythe. A lightning bolt dropped down from the sky and almost hit Narcian, had he not dodged at the right time. Lucian readied his scythe, then glared at Narcian and gave his a wicked grin.

"Time to dance!" He exclaimed.

He brought up his scythe and it glowed blue. Lightning was dropping faster. Narcian had to move fast. He ducked, dodged, rolled; doing whatever it took to avoid getting struck by a lightning bolt. Lucian viciously laughed as he kept bringing down lightning. Narcian found and opening and threw his sword. The sword cut a large gash on Lucian's chest, but he wasn't bleeding. Narcian caught his sword and looked at Lucian with confusion. Something was not right. Lucian was bleeding before, but he had stopped altogether. Lucian cocked his head and gave him a twisted smile.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You can't hurt me Narcian. I'm just too powerful for you now!"

He rushed at Narcian and brought down his scythe. Narcian fell backwards in surprise, with no time to block. Just as the scythe almost made contact with his head, he saw someone strike Lucian's scythe to the side before striking him in his side. Lucian yelled out in surprise as he backed up. Narcian's savior turned to face him.

"Glad I stopped that just in time," Cordelia said to him. "A second later and you wouldn't have a head anymore."

Narcian got up and readied his sword. "Thanks. Now let's bring down this psychotic commander."

Lucian was ready. He had already brought up his scythe and summoned a lightning bolt to strike the two shepherds, but they moved before the bolt could hit them.

"Ga-ha-ha-ha-ha! Stop resisting!" Lucian's head was cocked and he started to twitch. He flew at Narcian. Narcian blocked Lucian's scythe, and Cordelia followed up with a strike to his side. Lucian maniacally laughed as he fell to the ground. He was writhing on the ground, still laughing, still twitching.

"Ga-ha-ha! You got me good!" Lucian's eyes started rolling frantically. Blood was dripping from his mouth. He stared into Narcian's eyes. Narcian suddenly felt dizzy and dropped to the ground. Lucian laughed again.

"I see you soon Narcian!"

With that Lucian got up with ease, and started to dissolve into the air. Everyone present stood back in shock until the last bit of Lucian had vanished. Carlos, with his wound bandaged and healed, sighed in relief.

"Well, I'm glad that's over," he said.

He heard someone moan in pain, and turned to see Narcian on the ground grabbing his head and calling out in pain.

"Narcian! Narcian! Are you alright?"

Narcian couldn't hear him. Something was laughing maniacally in his head, and he couldn't figure out who it was.

"Why is it when something bad happens, it always happens to Narcian?" Carlos said.

Narcian started seeing things. He saw apparitions of Lucian appearing around him, apparitions of Lucian with his head cocked while laughing and twitching. He thought he sensed something behind him, and turned around to see what it was. He fell backwards and screamed at what he saw.

It was Lucian again, but this time he was different. Instead of laughing and twitching with his head cocked, he merely stared at Narcian with ghastly white eyes. A sinister mark was on his forehead, similar to the constellation of the six-winged dragon. He glowed with a fiery purple aura. All he did was stare at Narcian.

Narcian got on his knees, covered his eyes, and begged to Lucian. "Please, please! Leave me alone! I don't wanna die! I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

Narcian uncovered his eyes. Lucian was gone. He looked around. Everything was the same as it was before. Narcian got up. He looked from startled face to startled face. With tears forming in his eyes, he ran from the others. He could hear the others calling him.

"Narcian! Come back!"

"Narcian, you're alright! Come back!"

"Turn around Narcian! Don't go!"

"Narcian please! Please don't leave me!"

Narcian stopped at a tree and started to cry aloud. "Why!? Why can't that infernal commander just leave me alone? Why does he have to pick on me? What did I do to deserve this?"

He could hear Lucian's voice speak in his mind. "You were brought into this world. I'm just reminding you that you don't belong here."

Narcian heard someone come up from behind him. He fell into their arms and cried harder.

"Narcian, I would've never thought that someone like you would get upset over something like this."

He looked up and saw Cordelia looking down on him. "You don't know what I was going through at that point. He was everywhere. I had a never ending feeling of hopelessness."

Cordelia brought up his head to her eye level. "I won't be able to understand what you went through there, but please don't feel hopeless and lost. You're the only person that ever gave me the feeling of hope and belonging." Tears started to form in her eyes. "Just forget about Lucian. Escape from his shadowy grasp and come to the light. Please."

Narcian wiped tears from his eyes. "I'm sorry. I…don't know what got into me." Cordelia buried her face into his chest. "Oh thank you Narcian! I was beginning to think I was going to lose you." Narcian lost his sadness and grinned. "You kidding? Do you think a psychotic commander and some hallucinations are going to get me so easily?"

"You didn't seem so sure when I saw you."

Narcian shook his head. "Okay, well maybe. The point is I don't wanna stop what I'm doing until I die. And if I must die at someone's hands, I would prefer that they finish me off rather than leave me for dead."

Cordelia looked up into his eyes. "Then I'm going with you wherever you go, and you can't tell me otherwise."

Narcian cocked his head and smiled. "Well, I sure can't change your mind for you. All right then. Might increase our odds of survival." Narcian looked to the horizon. "Hey, maybe Chrom and Carlos will have some sort of special mission for us sometime soon."

At that moment Narcian heard someone come up from behind them. He turned and saw it was Carlos. Seeing that Narcian had recovered, Carlos sighed in relief and relaxed for a second.

"Narcian. Good to see you're back in the game. I, uh, did not want to interrupt whatever moment you two were having here, but we need to discuss something important."

Narcian nodded. "Lead the way Carlos."

* * *

"ARRGH!" Lucian roared. He slammed his fist into the wall. "What was I doing out there? I would've never acted so foolish on the battlefield like I did just then." He slammed his fist into the wall again, leaving a hole. "This…is…frustrating! They don't call me Commander Lucian the Cruel for nothing! What was I doing?"

Lucian started to pace in his room, and eventually calmed down. In order for plans to go smoothly, he needed to focus. "I need to see Alastor and Garrison." He called his servant girl to him.

"Slave! Fetch me Alastor and Garrison! Go! Now!"

His servant girl, frightened, scurried out of the room and left to find Alastor and Garrison. Lucian seethed with rage. He couldn't figure out what was happening. He never yelled at his servant girl like that before. He paced some more trying to find an answer. He went up to the altar he used in rituals for Grima and knelt before it.

"Master Grima, I am in distress. Please give me answers to my questions."

Lucian felt as if he was suddenly pulled from his room into empty black space. Before him stood a shadowy figure. The figure spoke in a menacing, distorted voice.

"Lucian. I have heard your call. It is nothing to worry about."

"Master Grima!" Lucian bowed his head. "What had happened exactly then?"

"I was merely attempting to sync with your soul," Grima explained, "and caused some of you strength and power to go out of control. But don't worry. You didn't suffer and injuries from that fight."

Lucian frowned. "Hmm. I don't recall everything that happened towards the end of the fight."

"Ah, yes. That was when I had possessed you for a moment. I inflicted a nightmare curse on him to thwart any possible attacks for him. He seems to have recovered from it."

Lucian nodded in understanding. "Heh. That explains the lightning magic." He then knelt before Grima. "Master Grima, my life force is yours to use as you wish. What are your orders my lord?"

"Continue to put your current plan into effect, and make sure that the tactician is dead before it is time for my return. We don't need any interference from my traitorous, former vessel."

Lucian grinned. An idea had sparked into his mind. "Master," he said, "you said you could sync and possess me, didn't you? You had also said something to me before about the vessel, and how you had used him in the future as the vessel by possessing him." Lucian's grin grew larger. "What if…"

* * *

"Say what!?"

Narcian wasn't sure if he could handle any more surprising things that happened. He was already going to pass out from this unexpected event. Carlos was shaking his head, and Chrom had his head down in disbelief. Narcian slammed his fist onto Carlos' desk.

"Alright, tell me what happened again! I'm not sure if I can believe this."

Carlos sighed. "Chrom, tell him again."

Chrom brought his head up. "Okay Narcian. I was pacing on the deck hours ago, back when you were gone to relax." Chrom sighed deeply. "Lucina comes up to me and asks if she can have a word with me. I say 'sure why not', and I stop to listen to her."

Narcian sat down on the chair facing Carlos' desk. He stretched for a second, then nodded to Chrom. "Keep going."

Chrom sighed again. "She said to me: Father, I am with child."

Narcian shook his head. "How? I don't remember her having any kind of affair with anyone in the Shepherds, save for Carlos." Carlos glared at him.

"You know Narcian, I'm not the messed-up tactician you might think I am. It must've been while we were sailing for Valm."

Chrom sat down on a bench against the wall. "Well, we've narrowed down all the male units who were on the ship at the time, and none of them seemed likely. The only people who were questionable were you and––now that you mentioned it just now––Carlos."

Carlos glared at Chrom. "Hey, why do I have to be the one singled out for all of these dirty events that happen? I tell you, I prefer to keep my virginity, thank you very much!"

"Whoa, Carlos. Settle down now," Narcian said. "Let me think about this."

Narcian thought hard to remember where he was on the ship before they had gotten to Valm. He remembered gazing at stars, shooting down fliers and riders, he remembered fighting with Lucian––this was remembered rather painfully, as Narcian remembered the pain and suffering he went through there––he remembered waking up with a close to death experience, he remembered being dragged down to Lucina's bedroom and getting knocked out, before waking up and finding her––Narcian slapped his hand to his face. Why had he not thought of that before? Narcian sighed.

"_Well, now that explains why she was so relaxed when sleeping._"

Narcian shook his head. "Well, I can definitely tell you––with lots of regret––that I am going to be the father of her child. She must've gotten me while she had me knocked out cold."

Carlos cheered. "Yes! I told you I was not responsible for any of this!" He then settled down. "Hmm, I guess that's why she wanted a haircut. It's because she's literally attracted and obsessed with you."

Narcian shook his head. "I'm not proud of it. Does this mean I have to stay back and watch her."

Chrom laughed. "Ah, no Narcian. Carlos and I can take care of it don't worry. Besides, we have something more important for you to do."

"Oh?" Narcian said, his mood suddenly changing.

"Yes," Carlos said. "Recently, Valm has conquered another chunk of the country. They are now having a large party to celebrate at what is known as Fort Steiger. We need you and a partner to infiltrate the party and see if you can find any information from there."

Narcian grinned and nodded. "You can count on me. I've always wanted to crash a party…but with stealth."

Chrom stood up and stretched. He then faced Narcian.

"If you want to get in, you're most likely not going to be able to sneak a weapon without it being discovered. The Valmese are pretty good at finding hidden swords and knives."

Narcian just grinned. "Oh yeah? Well I guess I haven't showed you these yet!"

He brought up his arms, and two hidden punching daggers jutted out from his sleeves, one on each arm.

"Man, I totally forgot I had these. They would've came in handy in all of those dangerous situations I was in." Narcian shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well. The past is the past, and I'm still here." Narcian got up and headed for the door. "If you excuse me gentlemen, I have a party to crash."

* * *

Narcian searched through his drawers. He found a nice black suit to wear, and changed his clothes. He washed his hair and combed it down. When he was done primping, he looked in the mirror. A handsome man was staring back at him.

"Heh heh. This reminds me of when I went to that party king Zephiel had to celebrate his birthday. That was back when he wasn't a crazed psycho of a king."

Narcian walked outside and stood still, looking at the stars in the sky. He was waiting for Cordelia, his chosen partner, to meet up with him. After some time, he saw her rushing towards him. She was wearing an elegant, crimson dress with her hair curled.

"Alright, I'm ready," she said. She took Narcian's proffered arm, and they went off. Narcian didn't know how long it would take to get to Fort Steiger, but the directions given to him by Carlos pointed out the shortest route to it. Narcian and Cordelia kept on walking.

"Narcian, I wasn't able to bring any sort of weapon along."

Narcian looked at Cordelia and smiled. "Ah, don't worry. I've got us covered with two punching daggers hidden in my sleeves. It's the most fitting weapon of choice for a gentleman dressed sharply for a party."

Cordelia looked at him. "Did you hear about Lucina?"

Narcian sighed. He did not want to talk about Lucina's "incident" or about her coming child.

"Yeah I did. Disturbed me a lot." Narcian shrugged his shoulders. "Ah well. Typical teenagers and youngsters. Always getting into trouble."

"Lucina is still young Narcian. She is still learning and growing up. All she wants is to save the world from a dark future and find someone who cares for her."

"She doesn't know what she wants," Narcian said coldly, "No one does. Not even me."

Cordelia turned in front of Narcian. "Narcian, I know what you want."

Narcian grinned. "Yeah, and what's that?"

Cordelia wrapped her arms around his neck. "Someone who cares for you. Someone who will look after you. Someone who loves you."

Narcian scratched the back of his head. "Wow. You read my mind as if you knew it inside and out."

Cordelia smiled. "Narcian, I've known you for some time now. I've studied you carefully every moment I had the chance."

"Huh. I don't know if I should be weirded out, or if I should be cool with it and ask why."

Cordelia turned away from him. "Uh, we should get going Narcian."

Narcian nodded. "Yeah, lets get going."

The two of them rushed to Fort Steiger. To their surprise, it was not that far. They walked up to the entrance, which was guarded by two Valmese guards and a short, portly man. Narcian assumed that this man was the gatekeeper. He walked up to the fat man.

"Hello," the fat man said, "Here for the party?"

"Yes," Narcian replied.

"Alright, but I'm gonna need your name first, sir."

"Oh yeah, that's right. My name is…uh…Narshen, sir."

The fat man nodded. "Right. Let me jot you down…alright. Narshen, you and your friend are allowed inside. Enjoy!"

"Thank you, good sir," Narcian said. He and Cordelia went inside Fort Steiger. The place was full of guests. Cordelia clung tightly to Narcian to avoid separation. The two of them wandered around the majestic fort and looked for anything that might've been intriguing to examine. Narcian saw Walhart laughing with a group of guests. Raising his mug high, he roared with laugher along with the other guest with him. Narcian looked at the guests with curiosity. His heart sank when he found Lucian.

"So Lucian came after all," he said to himself. "Better avoid getting in his line of sight." He turned around only to come face-to-face with a familiar person he remembered all too well from fighting the Valmese at sea.

"Why hello there!" Garrison said, laughing with glee. "What are you two up to tonight?"


End file.
